PAS syura council’s increasing influence over policy matters has fueled demand for a new Islamist party, according to some former party leaders.

Former party central committee member Hanipa Maidin said the council - exclusive to the party's ulama class - was often dismissive of progressive ideas meant to bring the party forward and be more inclusive.

"We never thought the syura council would be as powerful as it is now. We thought of it as a 'filtering' body for new policies to ensure they are Islamic.

"(But) now the syura council has encroached into the executive domain, it is difficult for PAS to move forward," he said.

Hanipa, who once headed PAS' legal bureau, said the syura council was inclined to see things as black and white.

"In politics, there isn't fixed ‘halal’ or ‘haram’, there are many grey areas where we must be very (careful) in saying this (or that) is un-Islamic," he said.

Instead, he said there has to be a creative and flexible approach to politics - a notion which Hanipa said the present party leadership was not receptive of.

"That is why this idea of having a new party is a popular demand from the grassroots. We have to think about it and if possible, we have to materialise the idea.

"It's not that we don't like PAS [...] but we have to face it, I don't think we can fix PAS at the present moment," he said, adding that the party as it is now, is not appealing to non-Muslims and Muslim professionals.

Plural politics

The Sepang MP and other progressive party figures were completely purged from the PAS leadership in this year's muktamar.

They have since banded together as an action committee, dubbed as the G18, to start a new inclusive Islamic movement.

Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad ( photo ) has openly said that the group will form a new and more inclusive party to fulfil the objectives of former PAS president Fadzil Noor.

Asked if the hypothetical new party would prevent a scenario similar to how PAS is strongly influenced by its syura council, another former PAS central committee member Dzulkefly Ahmad replied in the positive.

"We will have to address all those problems that we have faced in our party," he told Malaysiakini .

"We want to move forward [...] revive the thoughts of the late Nik Aziz Nik Mat and the late Fadzil Noor. For a moderate inclusive Islam, that is able to address plural politics in the plural demography of Malaysia," he added.

This sentiment was shared by Parit Buntar MP Mujahid Yusof Rawa ( photo ), who also emphasised the need to return power from the syura council to the party delegates.

"The syura council has a very large vested power in itself and as a democratic party, we should be looking into the power of the delegates that is the muktamar," he said, while not specifically talking about a new party.

PAS' constitution clearly states that the muktamar is the party's highest decision-making body.

New coalition?

However, in this year's assembly, delegates were not allowed to debate a crucial motion by the Ulama wing, which was to sever ties with DAP.

Despite protests from the delegates, the motion was approved without debate, giving the central leadership and the syura council authority to execute the motion without consulting party members.

While the PAS leadership insists that they have yet to approve the motion, others said the matter was a fait accompli.

Former Pakatan Rakyat ally DAP and also PKR concurred, with both declaring that Pakatan could no longer function due to that motion.

Thus far, there has been talk of a new opposition coalition. A meeting between PKR, DAP and G18 figures during a breaking of fast dinner on Tuesday appears to support this notion.

"A picture tells a thousand words," said Dzulkefly, who like most G18 figures, is still coy about the new Islamist party and a new opposition coalition.